Sara's report: U-T changes summer scholars program's focus

The San Diego Union-Tribune has changed its summer program for Latino high school students to include participants of other ethnic backgrounds; a move intended to prevent violations of state employment law.

"Employment law specifically bars using race or ethnicity as a determiner of who will be hired and this whole program is based on [students] getting hired and paid," said Jeff Light, editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Students who participated in the former Young Latino Journalism Scholars Program embraced the change and saw it as a good way of improvement.

"I think it was good to start that way," said Albert Jimenez, alumnus of the class of 2012. "I think the Latino community is kind of overlooked in some senses but now you have such a bigger group of applicants that you're going to get so much talent coming in."

In addition to changing its name to the U-T Community Journalism Scholars Program, two more students were added to this year's group.

"The more community members that are involved in this the better because this program is creating life-long learners, confident world leaders, and it's an encounter that every high school student should have," said Kara Stevick, a 2014 participant.

The Union-Tribune and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) have offered the five-week summer paid internship for the last four years to students to learn and practice the craft of multimedia journalism.

"The initial thought was to foster this kind of growth specifically in underrepresented communities," Light said.

Students are assigned to write articles and produce videos during the program.

"Our goal is to help kids; encourage them to pursue and investigate a career in journalism," said Blanca Gonzalez, program administrator.

Gonzalez believes Latinos are underrepresented in the journalism industry. She sees the need to create career opportunities for young people.